Senators Win 5-2 Over Capitals

The big news before the game was that the “Great 8” Alexander Ovechkin would not be playing due to a lower body injury. Speculation of Ovechkin’s availability had been running wild since the morning’s pre-game skate after he declared himself “not feeling well.” So, the struggling Capitals entered the contest without their superstar sniper and yet another reason to go into this extremely important matchup with their heads hung low.

And hang low they did, as the Caps sat back and watched the Erik Karlsson show. Karlsson opened the scoring in the first when he took a sweet Jason Spezza pass and snapped it by Vokoun to make it 1-0. Then, Karlsson found Milan Michalek streaking into the Washington zone and let MM9 do the rest. Michalek would sneak the puck through the legs of Dennis Wideman and slide it past Tomas Vokoun to increase the lead to 2. Despite being outshot 11-7, the Senators finished the first 20 minutes with a 2-0 lead and complete control of the game.

They kept it coming in the second. Milan Michalek added his 2nd goal of the game early in the frame when he tipped Erik Karlsson’s point shot by Vokoun on the power-play. The goal resulted in 2 separate milestones for Senators’ players. First, Michalek’s goal was his 27th of the season, a new career season high. Second, Karlsson’s assist put him at 47 for the year, setting a new franchise season high in that category for defencemen. The Senators wound up chasing Tomas Vokoun with yet another power-play goal, this one from Chris Phillips, and the game looked to be in the bag for Ottawa.

The Capitals didn’t go without a fight, however. Goals by John Carlson (on the PP) and Mathieu Perreault (with his face….) closed the gap to 2 but that’s as close as they could get. The Senators went on to the 5-2 victory and salvage their season-series against the Capitals by taking the final game.

Plenty of contributors on this night for the Senators. Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek tallied 3 points a piece, with Karlsson setting a franchise record with his 7 points over 2 games as a defenceman. Nick Foligno & Chris Neil added 2 points each while Craig Anderson 33 saves. The Senators extend their winning streak to 4 games going into their Saturday night tilt against the Boston Bruins.